Archie Manning hints that Eli might be open to playing for another team in 2018

Could the Giants quarterback be on the move in 2018?

The Giants' decision to bench Eli Manning for the rest of the season has raised a lot of questions about what comes next for both Manning and the team. The most obvious question following Manning's benching is whether or not he'll return to New York next season.

Although Manning is under contract with the Giants through the 2019 season and currently has a no-trade clause, it's starting to look more and more like his career in New York could be over. After Manning got benched on Tuesday, Archie Manning did an interview with the New York Post, and in that interview, Archie hinted that his son -- who never imagined leaving the Giants -- might be willing to play for another team next season.

"I don't think Eli ever envisioned, until now, playing for somebody else," the elder Manning told the New York Post. "That's the love he has for the Giants. It is kind of unique and stronger than most. It's not just the game he loves to play. He loves to play for the Giants."

That love seems to have faded some over the past 24 hours. Despite the fact that there seems to be a good chance that Eli could be playing for another NFL team next season, Archie didn't want to speculate on where that might be.

"There is no sense doing a lot of speculating from his standpoint," Archie Manning said. "There is no way of knowing."

Giants co-owner John Mara wasn't willing to speculate about Eli's future, either. During an interview on Wednesday, Mara was asked if he thought Eli could still be an NFL starter and the interesting thing about his answer is that he refused to commit to Eli past this season.

"I think he can still win in the NFL, yes. And I hope it's here, but that'll be a discussion for the offseason," Mara said, via quotes distributed by the team.

Although Archie and Mara didn't want to speculate about where Eli might end up next season, our Jared Dubin was more than willing to do that for them. Dubin made a list of seven potential landing spots for Eli and you can check those out by clicking here.

Don't be surprised if Eli lands somewhere else next season. Even he didn't sound too optimistic when he was asked on Tuesday if he thought he would ever play for the Giants again.

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John Breech has been at CBS Sports since July 2011 and currently spends most of his time writing about the NFL. He's believed to be one of only three people in the world who thinks that Andy Dalton will...
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